Some time ago I was so inspired by this post about beanbags over at SquiggleMum that I rushed out and bought fabric to make some beanbags for Immy and then promptly put it away and forgot about it.When I saw Code Name: Mama’s Beanbag Toss post on We Play, it inspired me again to get busy.
To make:
For the back of the beanbag, I chose fabrics representing a range of colours and patterns and cut one square from each (14x14cm square). The colours and patterns will make for lots of learning play fun.
The fabric for the front I re-purposed from a lightweight denim dress of my own. I printed out some large numerals (1-10) in a Word document to use as pattern pieces and cut one of each numeral out of a contrasting fabric. I attached the numerals using iron on fusible webbing and then stitched around each with a zig zag stitch.
I then double stitched one front to each back on three sides (with a 1cm seam allowance), trimming the corners to make them less bulky when they are turned right way out. Turn each bean bag right way out, carefully pushing out the corners with the point of a pair of scissors.
To fill the beanbags:
I decided to put the filling for each beanbag in a small plastic ziplock bag to provide a degree of waterproofing, just in case the beanbags need spot cleaning or get left outside and get damp. The small bags were a little to wide so I trimmed them to size and stitched the plastic closed. I filled two bags with each of the following fillings – risoni pasta, seed tapioca, green lentils, rice and dried peas, as I thought that each of the fillings would provide a slightly different texture when you rub the beanbags between your hands (taking every opportunity to provide sensory play experiences).
To further extend the learning potential of the beanbags I (randomly) filled pairs of bags with different fill types to the same weight so that of the ten beanbags we have two each of 80gms, 95gms, 105gms, 120gms and 135gms. I thought that this would be a great resource for when Immy is older and learning about weighing things. The beanbags will be great for estimating which two are the same weight and then testing on scales. Once the ziploc bag was inside the beanbag, I turned the open, raw edge in and machine stitched the opening closed.
And that is how I made a quick and easy set of beanbags, perfect for lots of fun and learning through play.
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Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Dionna and SM - thank you :)